Never Thought About It That Way

As I have emerged into adulthood (because I like to think it was just recently – bwahahahahaha), I have had a perspective change on many things. We all do. Let me remind you of some of them.

1. When we are little children, we think our parents are genius and invincible. Then there is that awkward era of our lives called adolescence where we temporarily feel that we are the ones who are all knowing and invincible. As adulthood begins to settle into our being, we return back to the awareness that our parents are genius. However, there is a subtle understanding that though their intelligence is invaluable, their fragility is to be respected and protected with your strength.

2. Thrill rides are still so much fun, but watching my children enjoy things of this nature for the first time far exceeds the thrill the actual activity brings me. Do you remember your parents looking at you with that reflective grin? You do it now.

3. I now know that I do not hate to read. I hate to read something that I didn’t have the choice in reading. So that was my problem in school. Half of the great classics that I was forced to read for Honors English are so much more enjoyable NOW as I have chosen to take them off the shelf of my own free will and not because it was a make-or-break-the-grade decision. And now, I see even more the great life lessons that are illustrated in many of the classic pieces that I refused to see before as I just grumbled and huffed about the waste of time I thought they were. (Sorry Great English teachers!) I even named my first dog after marriage Scout because of To Kill a Mockingbird.

4. Vegetables are not good for you. Vegetables are necessary for you. I was that awful child who would sit at the table for an hour and not eat that which was on my plate. As I have advanced in my years, I have come to the realization that a well-balanced diet doesn’t just help me have a healthier life, it helps me just feel better all around. I’m trying to do better with my kiddos. I’m not perfect, but trying!

This list could go on and on for an entire book…and maybe it will one day…but the biggest change in perspective that I wanted to point out is the pulling back of the curtain. You see, I was a typical American child/teen/person. I spent quite a bit of time taking things for granted. I even still find myself wrapped up in a trust in things that are actually a luxury. And the other biggie is the unfortunate behavior that I have adopted as an American that the things that I have are expected and, dare I say it, deserved.

Not only am I to have a roof over my head, but that roof is to keep all the elements away, meaning it is not to leak or to have any weakness. Not only am I to have 4 walls to keep me protected, they are also to be insulated so that the temperature created by my electrically induced CENTRAL HEAT AND AIR UNIT will be regulated so that I am always comfortable. AND when I am slightly uncomfortable – you know those ever so often moments of chill or hot flash – I can simply press a button and adjust the atmosphere of my little (often large) habitat. Oh yeah, and more often than not, I have experienced the comfort of flooring that is conducive to my needs – hard floors that are easy to clean or soft floors that are cushy to my bare feet.

I have an automobile that has powered windows and seats. My car is a mobile NASA command center. It also has the luxury of climate control like my home, but it even goes to the extra luxury of allowing my guests in my car to adjust their climate to be different from me as the driver. My passenger and I can even quicken our warming process on a cold morning by allowing our seats to become heated without becoming engulfed in flames. My automobile will communicate with satellites outside and out-of-sight to assist me in navigation AND to give me an even larger assortment of listening enjoyment.

I will stop with those two to tell you that my perspective has not changed to be wowed by all of the luxuries, although I am easily wowed. My perspective has changed as time sometimes allows me to pause and realize it is not man who makes it all happen. You see, the man who created the assembly line (Henry Ford) was able to create such a revolutionary invention because the Creator allowed him the ability to envision such an innovation. Everything that has been created or advanced or introduced or improved has been done so by a being that was created by the ultimate Creator. God did not let Moses go into the Promise land and walk amongst this great beauty, but He did let him see it from afar. Think about how much God has allowed man to now walk amongst. It is mind boggling.

God allowed someone to see the wheat plant and make a decision to crush it into a powder…AND combine it with liquid…AND take this new mush dough and apply heat to it for a certain amount of time creating one of the greatest and oldest blessings to the human appetite – BREAD.

God allowed someone to take certain plants and animal material and WEAVE it into a durable creation that was then sewn (still using plant fiber) into a design that actually fit around the human body providing not only protection from the elements, but also levels of COMFORT and WARMTH. How many different weights of jackets do you have? Someone figured out which combinations of fabrics provide the greatest comfort for lounging – I LOVE FLEECY PANTS! Even recently this has become all the more real to me as I watch my eldest daughter learn to knit. The pattern that she is being taught was passed down by many different generations. Somewhere in history, God allowed someone to develop this pattern of durable intertwining of thread that has maintained and evolved into machines that were created by man to mimic the pattern in mass production! What? AMAZING!

Here is the biggest to me. God allowed man to look behind the curtain at His greatest creation – the human body. Do you understand how much of that we take for granted? You can take allergy medicine because someone figured out that there are elements in our environment that cause the body to have allergic reactions. Not only were they able to identify what elements cause these bodily reactions, they also figured out what combination of chemicals can be infused into the body that strengthens the body’s ability to defend against these reactions. God allows man to develop and use machines to actually LOOK INSIDE the human body without cutting it open! God allows man the knowledge of how do perform surgeries for life-threatening measures. God has even allowed man to tamper with the rhythm of the human bodies rest pattern in order to allow a person to sleep through surgical procedures AND allowed man the wisdom to know how much anesthesia is needed to enable the body to wake up after the procedure is over. I could go on and on about what God has allowed us to see and to know.

It is so humbling and so awe inspiring. I find myself acutely aware that we, that I could be like Moses. We could know of great things, but not truly be able to experience them. So many people on this earth do not have the same luxuries that we have in America and I know that it is by the grace of God that I was born here during this time in our existence. When you change your awareness of where you are and what you have, it changes your entire demeanor. When you change your demeanor, you can change the course of your day. When you change the development of your day, you can affect others and change the perspective of their day. When they change, they affect others and a ripple occurs.

God has pulled the curtain back on SO MUCH. I am so thankful for what he has allowed us to see and to experience. May the exposure you are allowed to have of His creation today give you a fresh perspective on who He is and who you are.